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Review of Drawn to Extremes: The Use and Abuse of Editorial Cartoons by Chris Lamb

Lamb, Chris.Drawn to Extremes: The Use and Abuse of Editorial Cartoons. New York: Columbia University Press, 2004.

Perhaps maps fascinate us because they create an illusion of
unmediated knowledge. They represent the information of geography
immediately, with sections of area knitted together in scale. Maps
suggest comprehension and convey ease, even beauty, in
recognition. Editorial cartoons are similar in this function, which
may explain their popularity. These productions have played a
significant role in American social and political life. From Benjamin
Franklin's "Join or Die" visual polemic, through Thomas Nast's crusade
against Tammany Hall ("My constituents can't read; but dammit, they
can see pictures!", Boss Tweed famously quipped), William Hearst's
campaign for the Spanish-American War, and Bill Mauldin's World War II
commentary, to the more recent splashes of patriotism that immediately
followed September 11, editorial cartoons have responded to currents
in the American milieu. Chris Lamb's Drawn to Extremes: The Use
and Abuse of Editorial Cartoons investigates the history and
meaning of editorial cartoons in America.

Lamb's broad narrative includes the ethics of criticizing a wartime
president, the meaning of satire in ancient Greece, the dangers of
McCarthyism, the relationship between editors and cartoonists, the
mechanics of cartoon production, and the quantitative decline of the
industry itself. Lamb charts the trajectory of this craft's evolution
adequately, but none of these moments of discussion provide a
particularly insightful analysis of his subject. Drawn to
Extremes's confusing structure of meandering topics and
incongruous chapter titles also complicate its possible fallback use
as a reference or introduction to American editorial cartoons. For
example, the middle chapter titled "McCarthyism" begins with the
women's suffrage movement, discusses the cultural significance of the
Progressive Era, World War I, the New Deal, World War II, the Ku Klux
Klan, and briefly mentions McCarthyism (in two pages out of thirty-five) before
swinging by Nixon's Vietnam, and concluding with an odd and lengthy
debate about Clarence Thomas and Bill Clinton, without any attempt to
connect these themes with McCarthyism itself. This example is
particularly problematic because Lamb's apparent thesis – criticism
and commentary offered by editorial cartoons play a vital role in
democratic societies – resonates with the McCarthy Era
specifically.

Drawn to Extremes begins provocatively with the events
of September 11, which Lamb uses to examine the rhetorical disconnect
between criticism and patriotism that governments (and their minions)
frequently establish during moments of crisis. Lamb compares cartoons
that criticized President Bush before and after the attacks, and
suggests that the explanation for the acrimony the latter group
elicited can be found in "theories of nationalism," which are not to
be confused with patriotism: "confusing patriotism with nationalism is
like confusing faith with blind obedience. Patriotism allows for
questioning; nationalism does not. Nationalism is understood as an
ideology that demands absolute loyalty and, in doing so, exacts a high
price" (7-8). Lamb argues, more or less, that the distinction between
patriotism and nationalism collapses "when sensitivities are
particularly rarefied" (i.e. moments of crisis), and that patriotism
is then incorporated into the category of nationalism, with criticism
situated as antithetical to the latter category (7).

The satire of editorial cartoons, according to Lamb, can counter
the dynamics of nationalism by exposing its participants: "satire
forces us to take a look at ourselves for what we are and not what we
want to be. We may not always like what we see" (23). In a somewhat
cumbersome development of this argument, Lamb suggests that satirists
are social commentators who "usually offer a travesty of the
situation, which at the same time directs attention to reality and
offers an escape from it. The result is often unflattering, although
satire, like beauty, is in the eyes of the beholder, causing hysteria
for some and leaving others in hysterics" (34). Lamb argues that the
significance of this social commentary can be found in satire's
representation of reality, which influences both contemporary and
future readers. For example, in the aftermath of the 2000
presidential campaign, "the election itself became a cartoon, and
Florida became the banana peel we all slipped on. Generations from
now, it may well be the editorial cartoonists who created the most
realistic picture of the election" (57).

Lamb appropriately discusses cartoon depictions of fear-mongering,
martial hubris, corruption, incompetence and injustice in the context
of their real sources of inspiration and concludes that satirical
depictions both reflect and affect the social reality they represent:
"When editorial cartoons are at their best, they are like
switchblades: simple and to the point, they cut deeply and leave an
impression" (42). Moreover, cartoonists do this in unique ways: "when
was the last time you read an op-ed column that torched your soul?"
(237). "Therefore," Lamb insists, "it is up to editorial cartoonist to
awaken society and demand its involvement in protecting democracy"
(102). However, discussing the historical context of these cartoons
underscores the absence of cartoonists' influence, which may be
considered Drawn to Extremes' valuable (though
unintentional) counternarrative. Most of the progressive cartoons Lamb
mentions appear impotent. It seems that regardless of all the pomp and
bluster mustered by those criticized, cartoons merely let off the steam of
discontent; readers feel gratified to see their views articulated, and
then move on to book reviews.

In addition to staid platitudes and unfortunate metaphors like
those quoted above, historical gaffes (Dubya's "axis of evil" speech
came after September 11 [3] and Robert Bork was nominated by
Reagan, not Bush Sr. [119]) mar Lamb's argument, as do personal
sideswipes, like his awkward rant against "the virus of political
correctness" (55): "In these politically correct days, it is
fashionable for those who are offended to express their indignation in
the name of offended people everywhere, skin alive those who utter
contrary opinions, force them to apologize, and then have them
banished to the Tower of Babel" (53). Lamb's issues with political
correctness may explain the inappropriately brief mention of white
men's conspicuous dominance in this profession (92 & 227-230).

The strength of Drawn to Extremes lies in its generous
inclusion of 150 cartoons, which fairly represent over 200 years of
editorial cartoons in mainstream media, local papers, and specialized
publications like The Masses. These images and the
thorough documentation of their sources provide a valuable
resource. Lamb also includes relevant quotes from practitioners, and
his general history of editorial cartoons works well with his short
biographies of individual cartoonists. For example, Lamb's discussion
of Clay Bennett's career functions as a lucid exemplar of the
profession's contemporary technological and political shifts. If the
focus and structure of this book had been clearer, Drawn to
Extremes would have succeeded in either providing a historical
sketch of American editorial cartoons or a detailed review of
post-September 11 examples of these important cultural
productions.

The recent violence that erupted after a Danish newspaper
(Jyllands-Postenin) published cartoons of the prophet
Muhammad indicate that editorial cartoons are consequential. But even
these episodes (not to mention the cartoons themselves) defer rather
than elucidate dynamics between "the West" and "radical Islam."
Cartoons may convey information and elicit reactions, but they rarely
influence the subject of their satire. The anti-Bush cartoons Lamb
lauds did not meaningfully affect the Patriot Act or the invasion of
Iraq. They were only maps of contradictions, caricatures of folly and
brief respites for sad liberals. The praxis these documents were
supposed to generate never happened. Glancing at a map of Iraq, you
know how big the province of At Ta'Mim is relative to As Sulaymaniyah,
how close Kirkik is to Iran, and that Iraq and Saudi Arabia share
several rivers. But this map says nothing about what Iraq is, even as
you walk away with an idea of Iraq. The catastrophe that is America's
war against Iraq constitutes our most pressing concern, and there is
very little that an editorial cartoon can do to affect this.

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